Molecular imaging systems are well-known in the art and are used to capture various types or modes of images from any of a wide variety of objects or specimens. Common image types or modes that may be captured by such a device include visible light images, wherein visible light reflected by the object or specimen is captured by a camera associated with the imaging system. In another imaging mode, the visible light comprises light that is emitted by the object itself, as opposed to light that is reflected by the object. In such cases, the emitted light may be generated by a luminescence process, a fluorescence process, or by a combination thereof.
It is also often desirable in such systems to capture an x-ray image of the object. The x-ray image may then be used to correlate or compare certain features and attributes of the object with the visual light image of the same object. Typically, such combination or composite images (i.e., comprising a visible light image as well as an x-ray image) are desirable where the object being imaged is an animal, although the ability to capture such composite images may be desirable in other applications as well.